Afghanistan

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with other United Nations member states regarding alternative options for Afghanistan other than a centralist government.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The final text of the current constitution, the eighth in Afghanistan's history, was signed by President Karzai on 4 January 2004, after being approved by a Loya Jirgah (Grand Council) of 502 Afghan delegates, representing all parts of the country and all ethnic groups, among them 114 women. The Constitution lays out the structure of the Afghan Government. It is for the Afghans to decide whether their constitution should be altered.
	For a more detailed overview of the evolution of the current Afghan political system, and examples of what the UK is doing to improve governance across the country, please see the link below to the recent Foreign and Commonwealth Office memorandum of evidence which was submitted to the Foreign Affairs Committee as part of its global security inquiry into Afghanistan:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmfaff/memo/afghanistan/ucgs0402.htm

Afghanistan

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the effects on their policy in Afghanistan of the decision by President Karzai to approve legislation which allegedly authorises marital rape and child marriage.

Lord Malloch-Brown: Our stance on women's rights is consistent. We continue to urge the Afghan Government to uphold the Afghan constitution, which demands equal treatment of men and women, and to adhere to Afghanistan's international legal obligations under the human rights conventions it has signed up to—including the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
	My right honourable friend the Prime Minister has raised our concerns with President Karzai. We welcome President Karzai's decision to ask the Minister of Justice to review the legislation in question, known as the "Shia Family Bill". The Afghans have the right to write their own laws. However, we were dismayed that some reported provisions of the Bill, as it was drafted, ran counter to Afghanistan's international human rights obligations. As drafted, if it had become law, this Bill would have had a significantly detrimental impact on the rights of women.
	In Afghanistan, we work to enhance the status of women in three ways: through policy engagement with the Afghan Government; through support for national programmes and services, which benefit women; and through bilateral programmes. We regularly discuss women's rights with members of the Afghan Government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and parliamentarians. Examples of our work and progress made are as follows.
	In 2007-08 UK provided £55 million to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund to help finance the salaries of thousands of teachers. These resources have contributed to the increase of pupils in school from 2 million in 2002 to around 6million enrolled today. A third of the pupils in school are now girls, up from virtually none under the Taliban.With the help of a constitutional quota, over a quarter of seats in the Lower House of the Afghan Parliament are now held by women.We support various NGO projects, for example supporting the NGO Womankind to implement a £500,000 women's empowerment programme.Since 2001, the UK has given nearly £2 million to support the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. The Commission has over 500 staff across Afghanistan, actively tackling issues such as women's rights, children's rights and false imprisonment, as well reporting on concerns.
	I can assure you that protecting the hard-won freedoms that Afghan women have regained since the fall of the Taliban is a matter of great concern for the Government. We remain committed to working with the Afghan Government to ensure that the basic human rights of all Afghans, including women and girls, are protected.

Climate Change

Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope: To ask Her Majesty's Government what further scientific research is being commissioned to support the United Kingdom contribution to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Her Majesty's Government fund a wide range of climate change research, which directly and indirectly informs UK policy development. They also support negotiations on international action on climate change through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
	UK research specifically aimed at informing negotiations at Copenhagen is largely managed by DECC, which has recently commissioned a project called AVOID from a consortium led by the Met Office Hadley Centre, in partnership with the Walker Institute, the Tyndall Centre and the Grantham Institute. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is co-funding the project and its aim is to answer five questions, namely:
	First, what are the key impacts and risks of different levels of climate change across sectors and regions, and the world as a whole?Secondly, what level of climate change may be deemed dangerous?Thirdly, what would different targets for climate change imply for greenhouse gas(GHG) stabilisation concentrations and the emission pathways to achieve these?Fourthly, what mitigation options would need to be implemented to achieve stabilisation of GHGs at different concentrations, taking account of costs and uncertainties?Fifthly, what adaptation strategies are needed globally to cope with different levels of climate change?
	It is intended the project will run for four years but initial efforts are focused on delivering as much evidence as possible, including drawing together existing evidence, before December 2009, so as to inform negotiations at Copenhagen.
	This is just one component of DECC's £17 million per annum research programme. Other relevant components include the work of the Met Office Hadley Centre on understanding and predicting climate change, studies on impacts and adaptation in developing countries, and work to project UK emissions of greenhouse gases and assess UK policy options.
	The Department for International Development (DfID) also supports climate change research of relevance to the UNFCCC. Its current priorities for climate research are:
	climate science, especially in Africa;climate change in national and international policy;adaptation strategies;reducing the impact of climate change and promoting low carbon growth;and ecosystem services for poverty alleviation.
	Outside of government, but funded through the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, the UK Research Councils (primarily the Natural Environment Research Council, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council) provide much of the underpinning research used by the Government in their evidence-based policy development. Their contribution to climate change research is considerable with the Natural Environment Research Council alone investing £110 million during 2007-08 (28 per cent per annum of its entire science budget), with this level of support set to continue.

Climate Change Act

Lord Lawson of Blaby: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the estimated £324 billion to £404 billion cost of implementing the Climate Change Act 2008, as set out in the March 2009 impact assessment by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, will be borne by the public sector; and how much by the private sector.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Climate Change Act sets out a long-term target for UK net greenhouse gas reductions and a framework of five-yearly carbon budgets, the level of which will be set using advice from the Committee on Climate Change. The costs presented in the Climate Change Act impact assessment (IA) are based on the estimated reduction in UK gross domestic product (GDP) from the constraints the Act creates on UK net greenhouse gas emissions.
	The costs are estimated for an indicative trajectory to reach the long-term target of an 80 per cent reduction in UK net emissions (compared to 1990 levels) by 2050. The estimate of the costs comes from modelling work performed by the Committee on Climate Change, which has stated:
	"A combination of existing technologies, and those currently under development, could deliver the required global emissions reduction at an economic cost of 1-3 per cent of GDP in 2050 in line with the conclusions of the Stern Review. The UK could achieve an emissions reduction of 80 per cent below 1990 levels at a cost of 1-2 per cent of GDP in 2050."
	The Climate Change Act does not propose specific policies or their method of implementation. The £324 billion to £404 billion cost is an estimate of the underlying technology and behaviour change costs required to deliver the reductions over the period between 2008 and 2050. The incidence of this cost will depend on the specific design of the policies that are implemented—the share of the cost borne by the public or private sector is contingent on policy decisions between now and 2050.
	Any new policies put forward to meet each of the five-yearly carbon budgets will be subject to an individual impact assessment which will look in detail at the costs and benefits of the specific policy and will identify the distributional impacts on the private and public sectors.

Climate Change: Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the current price per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions used for quotas in the European Emissions Trading Scheme.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The closing spot price for an EU allowance (EUA) in the EU emissions trading system on 20 April 2009 was 13.18 euros for the 2009 contract. Closing prices for EUA future contracts on 20 April were:
	2010 €13.832011 €14.442012 €15.32

Climate Change: Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will review the effectiveness of the cap-and-trade system used in the current European Emissions Trading Scheme.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government strongly supports the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) as an effective and efficient market-based mechanism to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The EU ETS was systematically reviewed by the Government last year. This included extensive public consultation during the renegotiation of the EU ETS directive, which concluded in December.

Climate Change: Emissions

Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope: To ask Her Majesty's Government what they are doing to secure international collaboration on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol by the end of 2009.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: We are continuing to build the political conditions that need to be in place to secure a successful outcome in Copenhagen. This requires creating the right level of political will globally. Over this year, we will be engaging with countries through the formal UNFCCC negotiations, but also bilaterally and in a range of multilateral fora to seek support for an ambitious deal in Copenhagen.

Energy: Carbon Reduction

Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope: To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance has been given to Government departments to give priority in future to low-carbon growth in the United Kingdom.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government have a framework of measures in place to support low carbon growth in the UK. In particular, all government departments will be involved in delivering the UK's carbon budgets under the Climate Change Act. Also, a package of measures to drive low carbon growth, involving a number of government departments, were set out in the Budget and in the 23 April paper Investing in a Low Carbon Britain (www.hmg.gov.uk/lowcarbon).

Energy: Security of Supply

Lord Bradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to secure the United Kingdom's energy supply over the next 20 years.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government work to ensure there is a stable regulatory framework within which the private sector can invest to deliver secure and reliable energy supplies. Government action to ensure security of supply includes: reform of the planning and consents regime, promoting energy efficiency, creating the necessary framework to facilitate a diverse mix of low carbon sources of supply and promoting liberalised energy markets globally.

EU: Legislation

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of the statement by German MEP Jorgo Chatzimarkakis that 85 per cent of German legislation originates in Brussels, they will state what percentage of United Kingdom legislation is of European Union origin.

Lord Malloch-Brown: It would entail disproportionate cost to research and compile the percentage of UK legislation originating in the European Union: some European measures are directly applicable in member states and others require incorporation into national law through a variety of legislative or administrative means.
	It has been estimated that around half of all UK legislation with an impact on business, charities and the voluntary sector stems from legislation agreed by Ministers in Brussels, but this is a category of legislation which is more likely than legislation in general to have originated in the EU. It is likely that the overall proportion is therefore much lower.

EU: Telecommunications Regulator

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they support the European Commission's proposal to create a European Union Telecommunications Regulator and, if so, for what reasons.

Lord Carter of Barnes: The European Commission did not propose the creation of an EU telecoms regulator as part of its review of the European telecoms framework. Its proposal was to create a body whose primary purpose would be to provide independent advice to the Commission on the exercise of its powers. As a result of negotiations between the Commission, Council, and Parliament, it is known as the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC).
	Its structure and operation accords with UK policy objectives which include independence, transparency, accountability and cost-effectiveness. We consequently support the creation of BEREC within the context of the framework review.

Government: IT Contracts

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government which information technology contracts with a value of £50 million or over have been entered into by the Wales Office and its predecessor since 1997; and which of those have been completed to budget, to time and to specification.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Wales Office came into existence in 1999 when the majority of executive functions of the former Welsh Office passed to the Welsh Assembly Government. The Wales Office continued to receive its IT services under contracts operated by the Welsh Assembly Government until 2004, when it joined the Department for Constitutional Affairs (now Ministry of Justice) for this and certain other administrative purposes.
	The Wales Office has never itself entered into contracts for its main IT services, which have been provided to it by the Welsh Assembly Government, Department for Constitutional Affairs and Ministry of Justice under their contracts. No contract has been entered into for IT services with a value of £50 million or more for the Wales Office.

House of Parliament: Select Committees

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 20 April (WA 346), on how many occasions and in what circumstances Ministers of the Wales Office have refused to give evidence to Parliamentary Select Committees during the past five years.

Lord Davies of Oldham: None.

Human Rights

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is their policy that the western Judeo-Christian concept of human rights should be adopted by sovereign states in which the majority religions are not Christian.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The Government do not consider that international human rights standards reflect any particular religious tradition. The ideas and values underpinning the notion of human rights come from a wide range of religious, philosophical, ideological and cultural traditions. Human rights, by definition, are universal. They have also been elaborated collectively by states, particularly through the organs of the UN in such documents as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the various UN human rights treaties; and at a regional level in Europe, Africa and in the Americas. All UN member states, regardless of their populations' religious make-up, are bound under the UN charter to promote respect for human rights. All have also become bound voluntarily by international human rights treaties. The Government consider that all states must fulfil their international human rights obligations.

Human Rights: Freedom of Religion

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action is being taken by the Commonwealth to uphold freedom of religion and the conscientious right to change one's religion, in the legislation and practice of all member states.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The Harare Commonwealth declaration of 1991 enshrines the Commonwealth's commitment to the liberty of the individual under law and equal rights for all Commonwealth citizens regardless of gender, race, colour creed, or political belief. The Commonwealth actively supports the adoption and ratification of international and regional human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, across its 53 country membership and helps to enhance the capacity of institutions in member states to promote, monitor, and protect human rights.

Iraq

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the current security and humanitarian status of Camp Ashraf in Iraq; what assurances they have received from the government of Iraq regarding the safety of members of the People's Mujaheddin Organisation of Iran resident in the camp; and whether, subsequent to the planned withdrawal of the British military from Iraq, international monitoring of human rights in Camp Ashraf will be maintained.

Lord Malloch-Brown: Our Ambassador called on the Iraqi Human Rights Minister, Wijdan Salim, on 13 April 2009 to raise the issue of Camp Ashraf and make her aware of the level of interest in this issue in the UK, including in Parliament. Minister Wijdan assured our ambassador that doctors and medical supplies were permitted to enter the camp. The Minister also confirmed that families were allowed to visit the camp. Also on 13 April, consular officials at our embassy in Baghdad visited the camp to clarify whether any of the residents warrant UK consular assistance.
	We remain concerned that the human rights of all residents of Camp Ashraf are fully observed. There is no evidence to suggest that the Government of Iraq intend forcibly to relocate the residents to a country where they have reason to fear persecution based on their political opinions or religious beliefs, or where substantial grounds exist to believe they would be tortured.
	The International Committee of the Red Cross follows developments at the camp closely. It also discusses on a confidential basis the camp with the People's Mujaheddin Organisation of Iran (MeK), the Iraqi authorities and the US, which retain a presence at the camp in a monitoring and advisory capacity.

Maryam Kallis

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they are making in securing the release of Mrs Maryam Kallis, a British citizen detained in Damascus.

Lord Malloch-Brown: We were given consular access to Mrs Maryam Kallis on 8 April 2009. We raised the urgent need for consular access (under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to which Syria is a state party) within 24 hours of her arrest on 14 March 2009, and repeatedly followed up at both official and ministerial levels with the Syrian authorities thereafter. We have also requested a full explanation of the reason for her detention.

Mental Health: Northern Ireland

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government in what ways they are seeking to improve co-operation between the Northern Ireland Prison Service and Health Authorities, especially concerning mental health.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: On 1 April 2008 lead responsibility for prison healthcare was transferred to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. Additional funding was provided to develop mental health services within prisons. This has facilitated the recruitment of specialist staff to improve the services available for those prisoners suffering from mental health problems and strengthen the interface between healthcare in prison and in the community.
	As the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety now has lead responsibility, I have copied your question and my response to the Health Minister, Michael McGimpsey.

Northern Ireland Office: Energy Initiatives

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 20 April (HL2393) concerning energy efficiency initiatives in the Northern Ireland Office, how the 170 separate energy efficiency initiatives were identified; and what are the initiatives.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The 170 initiatives referred to in the previous Answer relate to the efficiency initiatives the department committed to as part of the 2004 spending review and were not specifically energy efficiency initiatives.
	These initiatives were identified as part of a co-ordinated exercise across all business areas to identify efficiency savings as part of the 2004 spending review (SR04). Due to the number of initiatives and the amount of underlying detail it would be possible to provide details of all initiatives only at disproportionate cost as outlined in previous Written Answer HL1593. However, the Northern Ireland Office's revised efficiency technical note, which is published on the internet at www.nio.gov.uk, provides an overview of the Northern Ireland Office's SR04 efficiency programme and the workstreams within which the savings were planned.

Northern Ireland Office: Staff

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Lord President (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon) on 18 December 2008 (WA 72) concerning payments to staff of the Northern Ireland Office, how that answer relates to the Written Answer on 5 February 2009 (WA 180) saying the Northern Ireland Office does not pay danger money; and
	To ask Her Majesty's Government under what circumstances a special environmental allowance is paid to staff of the Northern Ireland Office; and
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the name of the allowance paid to staff in the Northern Ireland Office, which is now called a special environmental allowance, when it was introduced in 1992.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The Revised environmental allowance referred to in the Answer given on 18 December—Official Report, Column WA 72—was first introduced in 1991 but paid only to staff working in prisons and police stations. It was extended in 1992, as previously explained. The Answer on 10 February—Official Report, Column WA 180—made clear that the Northern Ireland Office does not pay danger money.

Prisons: Northern Ireland

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will seek, before or after devolution, to establish a Prison Commission for Northern Ireland, similar to those for Scotland and for England and Wales, with appropriate and comprehensive regional terms of reference.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: Her Majesty's Government currently have no plans to establish such a commission for Northern Ireland. Following the devolution of criminal justice and policing functions, the establishment of such a body would be a matter for the Northern Ireland Administration.

Prisons: Northern Ireland

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress is being made in implementing the 44 recommendations of the Northern Ireland Prison Ombudsman, following the death of Mr Colin Bell; and whether the Review Team has reported; and, if not, when their report is expected.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: On 9 January the Prison Service published its action plan in response to the recommendations. I am advised by the service that, to date, 17 of the 43 procedural and management recommendations have been fully implemented with the others partially actioned. The review team is due to report shortly; its report will include an assessment of implementation. The review team was asked to address the 44th recommendation.

Roads: Litter

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty's Government when litter was last cleared from the verges of (a) the A40 from London to Oxford, and (b) the M11 from London to Cambridge.

Lord Adonis: Within London, litter clearance on the verges of the A40 is carried out every seven days by the affected London boroughs, with the central reserves being cleared every six weeks. Transport for London is responsible for the other sections of the A40 within London (called the Westway) and carried out litter clearance on 23 March eastbound and 30 March westbound.
	Three district authorities and the Highways Agency are responsible for verge clearance on the A40 between London and Oxford. The Highways Agency carried out nearside verge clearance for the section within its responsibility (the Denham area) in the week commencing 6 April, and because they require scheduled closures the central reserves were last cleared in the week commencing 29 December. South Buckinghamshire District Council, Wycombe District Council and South Oxfordshire District Council carry out clearances at regular intervals, the most recent of which were between 17 and 21 April.
	The Highways Agency is responsible for litter clearance on the M11. Between junctions 4 and 5 northbound litter was cleared at six locations from 31 January 2009 and 21 April 2009. Between junctions 7 and 4 southbound litter was cleared at nine locations between 24 January 2009 and 22 March 2009. Between junctions 7 and 9A litter, is cleared on a daily basis. Between junctions 9 and 14 litter was cleared in the week commencing April 13, with hot spots being targeted in the week commencing 20 April.

Somalia: Pirates

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ask Somali authorities for assistance in their efforts to combat piracy in the region; and whether they intend to pursue a policy of seeking international support for recognition of this country within the former British colonial frontiers of Somaliland.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The Government are working hard with the international community to tackle piracy off the coast of Somalia but the long-term solution will be to address the root causes of piracy. Somalia will play a leading role in this with support from, and in co-operation with, the international community, as reaffirmed during the UN-led meeting on Somalia in Brussels on 23 April 2009. Lord West (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office) and I discussed the issue of piracy with Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, Somalia's Deputy Prime Minister, during his visit to the UK on 20 and 21 April 2009.
	My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary also discussed piracy with the Leader of Somaliland, Dahir Rayale Kahin, on 6 March 2009. Officials have discussed the issue with the Somaliland authorities since.
	We are aware of Somaliland aspirations for independence but our position remains the same as the rest of the international community: that we do not currently recognise Somaliland as an independent state. We will not therefore be seeking international support for recognition of Somaliland.

Vehicles: Licences

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Adonis on 21 January (WA 212), what proportion of vehicles were checked at Dalar Hir and at Liverpool.

Lord Adonis: The Vehicle Operators and Services Agency checked approximately 1 per cent of heavy goods vehicles at Dalar Hir, and 1.3 per cent at Liverpool in the year April 2008 to March 2009 expressed as a percentage of goods vehicles passing through Holyhead and Liverpool ports in 2007.